This round of Eurobarometer surveys queried respondents on
standard Eurobarometer measures, such as how satisfied they were with
their present life, whether they attempted to persuade others close to
them to share their views on subjects they held strong opinions about,
whether they discussed political matters, and how they viewed the need
for societal change. Additional questions focused on the respondents'
knowledge of and opinions on the European Union (EU), including how
well-informed they felt about the EU, what sources of information
about the EU they used, whether their country had benefited from being
an EU member, and the extent of their personal interest in EU
matters. Respondents were asked how their present situation compared
with five years ago, whether they thought it would improve over the
next five years, and if in the last five years they themselves, a
family member, or a close friend had been unemployed or if the company
they worked for had "made people redundant," i.e., laid people
off. Respondents were also asked about how much news they currently
watched on TV, read about in newspapers, or listened to on the radio,
how fair they felt the media coverage of the EU was, whether their
image of the EU was positive or negative, and which groups or types of
people (e.g., children, the elderly, politicians, teachers, lawyers,
factory workers, farmers, etc.) had more and which had less advantages
from their country's EU membership. Other questions focused on how
satisfied respondents were with the way democracy worked in their
country and in the EU, how important various European institutions
were in the life of the EU and whether they trusted them, the amount
of pride they had in their nationality, and if they were for or
against EU features such as a single currency, an independent European
Central Bank, a common foreign policy, a common defense and security
policy, and a European Union that is responsible beyond national,
regional, and local governments. Opinions were sought on possible EU
social and political actions, which nonmember countries should become
members, the role of the European Parliament, and whether the EU
should have a constitution. Other topics of focus in the surveys
included racism, general services, food labeling, and information and
communication technologies. Several questions about people of
different nationalities, religions, or cultures queried respondents as
to whether they found these people disturbing, whether they themselves
felt they were part of the majority or minority in their country, and
if they had a parent or grandparent of a different nationality, race,
religion, or culture. Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with
a number of statements about issues involving minority groups and
education, housing, social benefits, international sport, cultural
life, religious practices, employment, and the economy. Additionally,
respondent opinion was sought on the size of minority populations in
their country, how relations with minorities could be improved,
whether restrictions should be placed on minority workers from outside
the EU, and the proper place in society for these minorities. A few
questions also queried respondents about cultural and religious
differences that immigrants (i.e., people who were not citizens of a
member state of the EU) brought to the EU and how the EU should handle
various situations involving this group of people. Questions regarding
services of general interest, specifically mobile and fixed telephone
services, electric, gas, and water supply services, postal services,
transport services within towns/cities, and rail services between
towns/cities, probed for respondent opinion on ease of access, price
and contract fairness, quality of service, and clearness of
service-provided information. For each service, respondents were asked
whether in the last 12 months they had personally made a complaint
about the service to any complaint-handling body and how they felt the
situation was handled. Another section of the surveys queried
respondents on how often they read food labels, if they thought there
was too much or too little information on food labels, if they trusted
and understood food labels, whether potential harm or benefit
information should appear on the labels, who should be responsible for
the information, and if food labels affected their inclination to
purchase food products. A number of questions gauged respondent
sentiment on genetically modified organisms in food by asking what, if
any, information should be shown on labels, how clear, comprehensive,
and reliable the information should be, and if the respondent would be
more inclined to buy food products labeled as having no genetically
modified organisms or less inclined to buy food products labeled as
having genetically modified organisms. Questions about technology
asked if respondents currently had at home a satellite dish, cable TV,
a digital TV, a DVD player, a game console, a computer, a computer
with a CD-ROM, an Internet connection, a fax without a computer, a
mobile phone, or an ISDN line. They were asked which of these they
used personally, which they were interested in but didn't use, which
they planned to buy in the next six months, and, for those without an
ISDN line, the reasons why. Those using the Internet were given a list
of Internet activities and asked to identify which they had engaged in
in the last three months, and if they had reduced time spent on
non-Internet activities such as watching TV, reading, listening to the
radio, interacting with family and friends, or playing sports.
Internet users were also asked where else they had access, how
satisfied they were with the speed of their Internet connection, if
they had considered a faster Internet connection, if they felt a
faster connection was affordable, which Internet services they would
be interested in using, and for which of those services they would be
willing to pay. Standard demographic information collected on
respondents included left-right political self-placement, party they
would vote for if an election were held tomorrow, marital status, age
at completion of education, current age, sex, number of people in
household, number of children in household, current occupation,
previous occupation, household income, size of locality, region of residence, availability of telephone in household, and language of interview (select countries).

This round of Eurobarometer surveys queried respondents on
standard Eurobarometer measures, such as how satisfied they were with
their present life, whether they attempted to persuade others close to
them to share their views on subjects they held strong opinions about,
whether they discussed political matters, and how they viewed the need
for societal change. Additional questions focused on the respondents'
knowledge of and opinions on the European Union (EU), including how
well-informed they felt about the EU, what sources of information
about the EU they used, whether their country had benefited from being
an EU member, and the extent of their personal interest in EU
matters. Respondents were asked how their present situation compared
with five years ago, whether they thought it would improve over the
next five years, and if in the last five years they themselves, a
family member, or a close friend had been unemployed or if the company
they worked for had "made people redundant," i.e., laid people
off. Respondents were also asked about how much news they currently
watched on TV, read about in newspapers, or listened to on the radio,
how fair they felt the media coverage of the EU was, whether their
image of the EU was positive or negative, and which groups or types of
people (e.g., children, the elderly, politicians, teachers, lawyers,
factory workers, farmers, etc.) had more and which had less advantages
from their country's EU membership. Other questions focused on how
satisfied respondents were with the way democracy worked in their
country and in the EU, how important various European institutions
were in the life of the EU and whether they trusted them, the amount
of pride they had in their nationality, and if they were for or
against EU features such as a single currency, an independent European
Central Bank, a common foreign policy, a common defense and security
policy, and a European Union that is responsible beyond national,
regional, and local governments. Opinions were sought on possible EU
social and political actions, which nonmember countries should become
members, the role of the European Parliament, and whether the EU
should have a constitution. Other topics of focus in the surveys
included racism, general services, food labeling, and information and
communication technologies. Several questions about people of
different nationalities, religions, or cultures queried respondents as
to whether they found these people disturbing, whether they themselves
felt they were part of the majority or minority in their country, and
if they had a parent or grandparent of a different nationality, race,
religion, or culture. Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with
a number of statements about issues involving minority groups and
education, housing, social benefits, international sport, cultural
life, religious practices, employment, and the economy. Additionally,
respondent opinion was sought on the size of minority populations in
their country, how relations with minorities could be improved,
whether restrictions should be placed on minority workers from outside
the EU, and the proper place in society for these minorities. A few
questions also queried respondents about cultural and religious
differences that immigrants (i.e., people who were not citizens of a
member state of the EU) brought to the EU and how the EU should handle
various situations involving this group of people. Questions regarding
services of general interest, specifically mobile and fixed telephone
services, electric, gas, and water supply services, postal services,
transport services within towns/cities, and rail services between
towns/cities, probed for respondent opinion on ease of access, price
and contract fairness, quality of service, and clearness of
service-provided information. For each service, respondents were asked
whether in the last 12 months they had personally made a complaint
about the service to any complaint-handling body and how they felt the
situation was handled. Another section of the surveys queried
respondents on how often they read food labels, if they thought there
was too much or too little information on food labels, if they trusted
and understood food labels, whether potential harm or benefit
information should appear on the labels, who should be responsible for
the information, and if food labels affected their inclination to
purchase food products. A number of questions gauged respondent
sentiment on genetically modified organisms in food by asking what, if
any, information should be shown on labels, how clear, comprehensive,
and reliable the information should be, and if the respondent would be
more inclined to buy food products labeled as having no genetically
modified organisms or less inclined to buy food products labeled as
having genetically modified organisms. Questions about technology
asked if respondents currently had at home a satellite dish, cable TV,
a digital TV, a DVD player, a game console, a computer, a computer
with a CD-ROM, an Internet connection, a fax without a computer, a
mobile phone, or an ISDN line. They were asked which of these they
used personally, which they were interested in but didn't use, which
they planned to buy in the next six months, and, for those without an
ISDN line, the reasons why. Those using the Internet were given a list
of Internet activities and asked to identify which they had engaged in
in the last three months, and if they had reduced time spent on
non-Internet activities such as watching TV, reading, listening to the
radio, interacting with family and friends, or playing sports.
Internet users were also asked where else they had access, how
satisfied they were with the speed of their Internet connection, if
they had considered a faster Internet connection, if they felt a
faster connection was affordable, which Internet services they would
be interested in using, and for which of those services they would be
willing to pay. Standard demographic information collected on
respondents included left-right political self-placement, party they
would vote for if an election were held tomorrow, marital status, age
at completion of education, current age, sex, number of people in
household, number of children in household, current occupation,
previous occupation, household income, size of locality, region of residence, availability of telephone in household, and language of interview (select countries).

Universe:
Citizens of the EU aged 15 and over residing in the 15 EU
member countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Data Type(s):
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The codebook and setup files for this collection contain characters with diacritical marks used in many European languages.

The setup files may contain references to Norway, but Norway was not a participant in this wave of Eurobarometer surveys. This collection contains no data for Norway.

The dates in the data file for Austria are not consistent with the dates in the Technical Specifications.

The number of interviews for France is 1,002. The table in the Technical Specifications shows the number of interviews for France as 1,003.

D8/V592 and V593: For 32 respondents the indicated age "WHEN STOPPED FULL-TIME EDUCATION" was too high for their actual age (D11/V595). These cases were recoded to '0' ("NA") in V592 and V593. 12 missing cases which are coded '2' ("Student") in D15A/V600 have been recoded to '98' in V592 and '10' in V593 ("Still studying").

D29/V624 (INCOME HH QUARTILES): Please notice that the income quartiles are produced for comparison purposes and are retained as provided by the principal investigator. They are based on the country-specific categorized income question.

C5/V680 (EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTY PREFERENCE): This variable has been constructed by the Central Archive mapping the country specific variables V574 to V589 to the party group structure of the 5th EU-Parliament period (1999-2004). Spanish regional parties, combined coded '57' in V585, are attributed separately to its corresponding group in the EU-Parliament. Different internet resources were used for information on the respective party affiliations:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/election/def_nig.htm (official EP website)
http://www.parties-and-elections.de
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Electionworld/Electionworld

V683 (ORIGINAL RESPONDENT ID): Four cases with non-unique respondent identification numbers have been detected, including 50587 and 160439; however, these cases are not identical.

Methodology

Sample:
Multistage national probability samples.

Weight:
Please review the "Weighting Information" section of the ICPSR codebook for this Eurobarometer study.

Mode of Data Collection:
face-to-face interview

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release: 2001-03-27

Version History:

2008-11-26 The data have been further processed by the ZA, and the SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files, Stata system file, and codebook have been updated. Also, the SPSS portable file has been replaced with an SPSS system file, the SAS transport (XPORT) file has been replaced with a SAS transport (CPORT) file, and a tab-delimited ASCII data file has been added.

2006-03-06 The data has been further processed by
the ZA, and the SPSS setup file and codebook have been updated. Also,
SAS and Stata setup files, an SPSS portable file, a SAS transport
file, and a Stata system file have been added.

2002-07-30 Data for previously-embargoed variables
are now available, and the French version of the questionnaire has
been added.

2001-07-26 Data for some previously-embargoed
variables (Q4 to Q7, Q49 to Q53, Q59 to Q61, Q79 to Q88) are now
available. Also, the name of the principal investigator for this
collection has been corrected.